Junior Legion Regional: Post 8 hopes to keep its edge

Thursday

DOVER — After living on the edge for most of the state tournament, the Dover Junior Legion baseball team didn’t want to lose its edge going into the regional.

Faced with going eight days between meaningful games after playing five in three days last week, Post 8 scrimmaged the Rochester Post 7 senior squad on Monday.

“You can’t simulate a game and that was the closest we could find,” said coach Jack Dalton. “Rochester really helped us out.”

Dover had to see live pitching at least once in preparation for the Northeast Regional in Windsor Locks, Conn. Rochester opened play in the Senior Regional on Thursday in Worcester, Mass.

“They’re the best competition we’ll face all year,” said outfielder Jackson McCoy. “This team can hit for sure, but seeing that pitching and getting those reps is definitely important.”

Post 8 (19-4), which captured the program’s sixth state title last week and has won 15 of its last 16 games, will take on host Windsor Locks on Friday night at 7.

Although the regional is single elimination, each team is guaranteed at least two games. Post 8 was in one-and-done mode after the second game of state tourney, winning five consecutive elimination games, including two in extra innings.

“It was a huge adrenaline rush and all of sudden we crashed,” Dalton said. “We’ve got to get that adrenaline rush going again quickly.”

Post 8 was one out away from extinction twice against Lebanon, but rallied to tie the game in the seventh and the eighth innings, before prevailing in the ninth on a suicide squeeze bunt by Brady Mourgenos that scored Alex Noel with the winning run in a 7-6, walk-off victory.

“He’s by far the best bunter on our team,” Noel said. “He has a wicked high baseball IQ so I knew he was going to do something big right there.”

The momentum carried over as Dover swept Nashua in the championship series by scores of 8-2 and 15-3 to advance. Noel tied the game 5-5 with a two-out single in the seventh and McCoy did the same in the eighth to make it 6-6.

“It gets you a little nervous, but I feel like when you know you have to do something big it just comes,” Noel said, “and it came.”

Post 8 also came from behind to beat Londonderry, 5-2, in 10 innings. Trailing 2-0, Dover scored twice in the sixth with McCoy driving in the tying run with a squeeze bunt.

“This team never quits,” McCoy said. “We played those tough elimination games. We know what the pressure is like. We came through under pressure and I’m confident we’ll do well.”

Post 8 scored three times in the 10th with the go-ahead run scoring on a Ken Healy double. With six innings of scoreless relief Alex Bostrom earned the win against Londonderry while Healy was the winning pitcher in the clincher against Nashua.

“We’re playing really good ball,” Noel said. “We’ve just got to keep that edge.”

Dover features a deep rotation that includes three pitchers with high school varsity experience — Chris Johnson, Jake Carey and Bostrom.

Johnson, a crafty southpaw, could get the start Friday night.

“We’ve done enough homework on (Windsor Locks) to understand that this team may have trouble with off-speed so we’re going to go with a lefty that throws a lot of junk,” Dalton said. “We want to keep them off balance.”

Post 8 also has a balanced offense one through nine.

“The key for us is to get out quickly and not sit back and let the game come to us,” Dalton said. “We’ve got to go out there and be aggressive. We cannot let their pitchers get into grooves.”

“If we get the bats going this is a team that can definitely win the regional,” McCoy said.

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